The mother of a sex offender wanted for the murder of Baltimore tech CEO Pava LaPere has begged him to surrender to authorities.
A manhunt is underway for 32-year-old Jason Dean Billingsley, who is accused of killing 26-year-old LaPere, the founder and CEO of EcoMaps Technologies. Her partially clothed body was found with evident signs of blunt force trauma on the roof of her apartment building on Monday, The Baltimore Banner reports.
Billingsley, who is considered “armed” and “dangerous,” faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, sex offence and robbery. Now, his mother has issued a desperate plea for him to turn himself in.
“I told him to turn himself in because they’re going to kill him,” 72-year-old Scarlett Billingsley told NBC. “I don’t want police to shoot him because they think he has a gun.”
Ms Billingsley said she last saw her convicted rapist son on Monday when he visited her home. Billingsley reportedly showed her a weapon but said that he was looking to sell it, his mother said.
Ms Billingsley apologised to LaPere’s family, adding that she did not believe her son and the slain tech CEO knew each other. She is now concerned that her only surviving son could be killed by authorities after she lost a child to gun violence in 2013.
“I don’t even know how he met that girl, where he met that girl, or how he got into her apartment,” Ms Billingsley said. “I am so sorry for what that mother is going through ... I’m very sorry if he did it.
“I won’t know until I see some evidence if he did it. Where is the truth at — show me some evidence.”
Billingsley was previously arrested in 2009, 2011 and 2013 on multiple charges including sex offences, second-degree assault and robbery.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in 2009 and was given two years of supervised probation. He violated the terms of his parole and was convicted of second-degree assault in 2011, court records show.
Billingsley served two years over the 2011 conviction and just months after being released in 2013, he was arrested again on attempted rape charges
In 2015, Billingsley was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 16 years suspended and five years of supervised probation, after he pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offence. He was released from prison last October on “good-time” credits, the Baltimore Banner reported.
Detectives are working to determine potential connections to Billingsley and other cases. Baltimore police confirmed on Wednesday that Billingsley is also accused of an attempted murder, sexual assault and arson incident on 19 September.
“Additionally, detectives are now reviewing all cases since October, 2022, to the present day in order to determine any other connections,” the department said in a statement to The Independent.
